Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that has excellent mechanical properties such as impact resistance, heat resistance and transparency. Polycarbonates are widely used in applications ranging from compact discs to automobile parts to transparent security windows.
Color can be generated in polycarbonates and in copolycarbonates which reduces the transparent quality of resulting articles formed from such. The polymerization and molding conditions used to produce the polycarbonate and molded articles may lead to the formation of side reactions within the polycarbonate leading to color formation therein. Greater color formation typically occurs when the molding/polymerization conditions are more abusive and thus polymerization and molding under mild conditions are generally desired.
Color can also be generated by degradation of reaction components or the presence of color bodies or foreign materials in the polycarbonate. Therefore, the quality of the starting materials has a large effect on the color of the polycarbonate product. Additional ways of improving the color of polycarbonate and polycarbonate articles are always desired.